The Gatekeeping Continues

Hot on the heels of this post, comes another terrific example of the Star Trek fandom’s problem with gatekeeping – I’ve plucked only three tweets, but there are plenty more from this guy. He’s actually inspired a video for my YouTube channel, which delves further into this murky set of ideas.

This falls into the category of ‘non-sequitur’. There is a mammoth difference between a political, era-defining document and a TV franchise. Besides, I’m sure a great many Americans haven’t read the Constitution but still love their country. See how this guy is trying to set up definitions that everyone else has to live by?

If you want a teacher to give you an a A on an Algebra test, you can’t just provide the answers, you have to show your work… https://t.co/mHCma3I3KU

Another non-sequitur. This isn’t an exam. No one has to ‘prove’ anything to anyone else to be a Trekkie. Elitism at it’s finest…

I’ve always dreamt of leading the “Dead Poet’s Society” of TREK. Make every “fan” watch all of TOS, then read every BEST OF TREK essay compilation, to understand what REAL fans are. Mainstream, casual fandom ruined everything. https://t.co/eaGbA5FNFy

I’d hoped this was a sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek tweet, but given what he has been saying to others, I have to genuinely wonder… This ‘real fan’ nonsense is toxic, much like the ‘True Trek’ rubbish that I dealt with before. Hopefully it’s pretty obvious, but it deserves exposure for what it really is.